Rough draft

Would Daddy Bush be hell-bent on attacking Iraq if his daughters, Jenna and Barbara, had to fight on the front line? It may sound like a silly question, but it’s one worth asking. Which is exactly what U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, is doing with a bill he supports that may be introduced this week to reinstitute the draft. If enacted, it would require men and women, as well as the rich and poor, to serve in the military.

“The Bush administration and some congressional leaders would be less willing to go to war with Iraq or other sovereign nations if their own family members and neighbors faced the prospects of serving in the military on the front line,” says Conyers in a written statement. U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangle of New York is sponsoring the bill; Conyers was quick to announce his support for it.

Conyers, like his Democratic colleague, wants to ensure that it is not just poor minorities who go to war.

“The troops who usually face enemy fire are made up of minority soldiers of African-American and Hispanic decent, and poor white guys with no connections,” Conyers tells News Hits.

The bill would allow only the disabled and conscientious objectors to avoid military service. No get-out-of-jail-free passes for privileged white folks.

“In the past you could go to the draft board and say my dad’s name is Bush and I’m real busy trying to start an oil business and then join the Air National Guard,” says Conyers referring to George Jr.’s military record. According to news reports, Bush joined the Air National Guard to avoid going to Vietnam; there is no evidence that he showed up for duty his final year in the service. But the bill doesn’t have a chance of becoming law. And Conyers knows it. So why support it? For one, it may force Americans, and even George Dubya, to consider the real costs of attacking Iraq. Or as Conyers put it: “If you want war, are you willing to send your own kids?”